The conversation about people who are transgender was just taken to a whole new level of engagement and interest with the unveiling of Caitlyn Jenner on Vanity Fair. There are more questions being asked, more people interested in educating themselves, and as always, PFLAG is a valued resource for answers!

Based on its well-loved and popular predecessor, Welcoming Our Trans Family and Friends, Our Trans Loved Ones is a brand-new, updated resource. Written by PFLAG staff members, and created with the help of dozens of content experts, reviewers, and family members and friends with experience to share, it is chock full of information, first-person stories, expert input, and more, all geared to those who have a close family member or friend — of any age— who has come out as trans or gender expansive.

The new publication and comprehensive web resources (available at pflag.org/trans) address frequently asked questions and are also divided into sections specific to three age ranges; Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood. This gives readers easy and immediate access to information they need based on their own circumstances, along with a full section of Frequently Asked Questions for people of all ages.

Just as Our Trans Loved Ones is geared to families and friends, we also have answers for allies! Our other invaluable publication from our Straight for Equality® project, guide to being a trans ally, applies the philosophy of the project — to invite, educate, and engage allies — to a topic that has been key to PFLAG’s work for years: inclusion for people who are transgender.

So visit pflag.org/trans for an interactive, electronic copy of Our Trans Loved Ones or straightforequality.org/trans for your electronic copy of guide to being a straight ally. (And don’t forget the comprehensive resources on both pages!)

Too many people associate Pride events with a big party, sometimes a wild party that is too risque for kids to attend. But there’s more to celebrating LGBT pride than a weekend hangout with loud music and rainbow-colored knick-knacks.

There’s a lot for the LGBT community to celebrate, buy why do we come together and what is the history behind it? Well, learning the history of Pride and why it’s celebrated in June is one of the ways you can celebrate in a meaningful way. Want even more? Good! Mashable put together a list of ten…

On April 8th, HRC Kansas City hosted the 9th Annual Corporate Celebration of Equality honoring major Kansas City area employers committed to LGBT equality in the workplace. The event attracts employers committed to equality from states all across the Midwest. Twenty-four companies in total were recognized for their Corporate Equality Index (CEI) score running the gamut from Hallmark and Principal Financial to Sprint and local law firm Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP.

Kansas City Mayor Sly James received an award on behalf of his work with the city council to achieve a 100 on the Municipal Equality Index (MEI). Mayor James made news in February with his response to Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, who rolled backed protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state workers. His social media tweet, “LGBT COMMUNITY! You are welcome in Kansas City!” instantly went viral and speaks to his dedication to fostering an environment of inclusion.

Cerner Corporation played host and was able to highlight its 90% score on HRC’s CEI. Three healthcare companies also were recognized for receiving the designation of “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality” via HRC’s Healthcare Equality Index (HEI) — Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics, Research Medical Center & St. Luke’s Health System.

Over the last decade, the landscape on LGBT rights has shifted rapidly across the nation. What was once considered unthinkable is becoming increasingly commonplace, from gay men and women being allowed to serve openly in the military to the potential for the U.S. Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage this year in all 50 states.

Despite that change, 29 states — including Missouri and Kansas — have no statewide law barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. That means a person can be fired from a job, evicted from an apartment or kicked out of a restaurant for being gay or being perceived to be gay.

Lawmakers were discussing a bill making it illegal in Missouri to discriminate against someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity just weeks after voters in Springfield narrowly voted to repeal a local nondiscrimination ordinance.

Resistance at the Statehouse has forced Missouri gay rights advocates to turn to local government. More than a dozen cities and counties in Missouri, including Kansas City and Jackson County, have passed ordinances prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Ron Calzone went to the Missouri Capitol on Wednesday to stand up for his “God-given freedom” to discriminate.

“Everyone’s afraid to say this, so I’m going to say it,” Calzone, a rancher from Maries County in south-central Missouri and director of conservative think tank Missouri First, told a House committee.

“In America, you have a right to discriminate as a private citizen. In America, if you don’t like the color of someone’s eyes or their hair or the way they talk, you have the right to not associate with them.”

The city council had voted 6-3 in October to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance.

Opponents, who voiced concern about religious freedom and the potential effect of the ordinance on the use of bathrooms across the city, gathered enough signatures to force council to either repeal the expansion or send it to the ballot box. The city council tabled the measure, which automatically set up the vote.

Final results of the Tuesday vote were close, 51.4% to repeal vs. 48.6% not.

“Momentum really turned in the last weeks,” said Calvin Morrow, spokesman for the campaign to repeal gay rights in Missouri’s third largest city. He had questioned whether discrimination against gay and lesbian residents actually happened in Springfield and said the fight over the ordinance had left the city divided.

Justin Burnett, who won a council seat Tuesday, supported repeal of the ordinance. He said it was a win for small business and the faith community.

“A lot of people of faith thought this ordinance neglected their constitutional and God-given rights,” he said.

At least 225 cities and counties across the USA prohibit hiring and housing discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual identity, according to the Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBT equal rights.

In Missouri, at least six cities including Kansas City and St. Louis as well as St. Louis County have an ordinance, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

PROMO, the Missouri-based gay-rights advocacy group, puts the number at a dozen cities and two counties, including Jackson County that has Kansas City. All but two of the smaller locales — college towns Columbia and Kirksville — are St. Louis suburbs.

“People have worked so hard on this. We’ll rest tonight and we’ll regroup tomorrow,” Krista Moncado of the GLO Community Center, a gay and transgender organization in Springfield, said after the results were made final.

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PFLAG Meetings

All meetings are now virtual until further notice.

PFLAG Kansas City general meetings are held at three locations:

* On the 2nd Sunday of each month at 3:00 pm at Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, Room 307, Prairie Village, KS. The meeting room is wheelchair accessible. (Everyone is also welcome to attend the Board meeting beginning at 1:30 pm.)

* On the 4th Sunday of each month at 3:00 pm at the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, 3909 Main St, Kansas City, MO.

* The Independence satellite meeting is on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm at Northern Boulevard United Methodist Church, 1800 S. Northern Blvd., Independence, MO.